ENDURANCE NEWS FROM THE F.I.M. CONGRESS

The calendars of the Endurance and Sidecar World Championships will be published later, as negotiations with the promoters are still in progress.
- Endurance: the limit for the maximum age finishes at the end of the year in which the rider reaches the age of 55 (subject to a medical certificate as from the age of 50) – The starting grid will be drawn up including the number of teams qualified for the race on the basis of the average of the best times recorded for one lap by all the riders (reserve rider not included) of the team during one of the qualifying sessions – The background colours of the number plates will be as follows: black for Superbike, blue for Superproduction, red for Superstock and green for open class.

WSB CALENDAR

Superbike & Supersport World Championship – Championnat du Monde Superbike et Supersport
Dates Country/Pays Circuit Superbike Supersport
February/février 24 ** Qatar Doha/Losail X X
March/mars 4 Australia/Australie Phillip Island X X
April/avril 1 Tba/tba
April/avril 15 Spain/Espagne Valencia * X X
April/avril 29 Netherlands/Pays-Bas Assen * X X
May/mai 13 Italy/Italie Monza * X X
May/mai 27 Great-Britain/Grande-Bretagne Silverstone * X X
June/juin 17 San Marino/Saint-Marin tba * X X
July/juillet 8 Tba/tba
July/juillet 22 Czech Rep./Rép. Tchèque Brno * X X
August/août 5 Great-Britain/Grande-Bretagne Brands Hatch * X X
September/septembre 9 Germany/Allemagne Eurospeedway Lausitz *X X
September/septembre 30 Italy/Italie Vallelunga * X X
October/octobre 7 France /Magny-Cours * X X
October/octobre 21 Tba/Tba
* : with Superstock FIM Cup/avec Coupe FIM Superstock **: Saturday/samedi
Vallelunga: round subject to contract

WORLD SUPERBIKES - TROY STORY YAMAHA

Troy Corser threw his leg over one of this year's Yamaha Italia's R1 WSBK bikes for the first time today (25th October) and left Mugello at the end of the day with a smile on his face. Weather conditions were nigh on perfect at the undulating Tuscan circuit and Troy and his new team were able to start their new job together in the best possible way.
At the end, Troy got down to some really good lap times - all without even pushing hard. The day went smoothly and completely without any dramas and now Troy is looking forward to the official tests in Valencia in just over two week's time.

Photo courtesy of Yamaha Racing/Kel Edge

"I can't believe how well today went and I'm really happy with my first day on a Yamaha Superbike. I started off with one of Andrew Pitt's bikes and worked with the crew getting a comfortable position and the usual stuff. The engine feels flatter off the bottom and is a bit peaky, but the bike is very stable under braking and the handling is pretty good also. The spin and wheelie control is very adjustable and, of course, one of the biggest differences is the suspension - which is now Ohlins. At the end of the day, I tried a few laps on one of Haga's bikes, but it was way too hard for me! I'm happy today because it took me hardly any time getting comfortable and I was able to get down to some pretty good lap times without pushing hard at all! I had no dramas, no crashes, no running off the track or anything like that, and I am surprised how well it's all gone gone today. Now I'm really looking forward to riding it at the Valencia tests and seeing how it stacks up against the rest of the boys."

THE AMERICAN ENDURANCE SERIES - BUT ONLY FOR 4-STROKE TWINS

THE RACE...AND THE RETIRED STEPHANE MERTENS KEEPS ON WINNING...